Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Ever since Telegraph entertainment scribe Maggie Large (author of the great music blog Amped, linked at right) showed me how to embed YouTube on this site, I've been itching to do so.

So what better excuse could there be than the first four minutes of "Borat," Sasha Baron Cohen's politically incorrect creation? From watching this glorious clip, I can tell that Americans are gonna get it just as hard as anyone else in this equal-opportunity offender, and I can't wait to see it.

Word comes this morning, however, that thanks to the geniuses at Twentieth Century Fox I may have to wait beyond the initial release date of Nov. 3. Unable to grasp the concept of a hit comedy (has it really been that long since they've had one?), the studio has decided on a "tiered" release for "Borat," with its first run limited to only 800 theaters.

"The reaction to this movie has been incredible and we know that the word-of-mouth will be excellent," said Bruce Snyder, Twentieth Century Fox President of Distribution. "Not only is there an existing audience that can't wait to see the film, what we have here is a movie with an incredible amount of playability. Through a tiered release pattern, we'll be able to build a huge amount of momentum."

OK, I understand the notion of hype, but this is beyond stupid. Please hear this plea from those of us who live only in wide-release land and reverse this crazy course now. The world needs more laughter. Or, at least, I'm damn sure I do.

Anyways, enjoy the clip, and please let me know what you think.

Howard, Bana and the BTK Killer

I'm a big fan of true-crime movies, but this is one wound that may just be a little too fresh.

Eric Bana and Terrence Howard are attached to star in "Factor X," a thriller being written by Gregory Allen Howard for New Line Cinema telling the true tale of how the BTK Killer was captured. Ridley Scott is a producer, and I can't imagine he would pass up the chance to direct this one.

The serial killer known as BTK murdered people in and around Wichita, Kan., from 1974-91 and was finally caught in 2005. "Factor X," which takes its name from what the killer described in taunting letters to the police as his motive for murder, tells how a young, black counterterrorism expert (Howard) from Washington teamed up with a Wichita police detective (Bana), who spent his career trying to chase down the killer.

Like I said, this sounds more than a little creepy to me, but I have unconditional love for Terrence Howard, so I'll be curious to see how this all turns out.

An early win for Cruz

Though early Oscar handicappers have already handed the Best Actress prize to Helen Mirren for her performance in "The Queen," the recent Hollywood Awards just put up a bump in the road.

Penelope Cruz was hailed at the recent ceremony, which kicks off the awards season ridiculously early, as Actress of the Year for "Volver." Huzzah to that. I can't wait to see Pedro's great movie when I hit New York for Thanksgiving.

Other winners included Forest Whitaker as Actor of the Year for "The Last King of Scotland" and Oliver Stone as Director of the Year for "World Trade Center," both fairly predictable choices.

But the one that made me smile was Cruz. Here's hoping this is the beginning of an unstoppable Oscar run.

Actually I think a staged release is a good thing.Think about it. If the studio is worried of bad reviews; wide release and try to get money from the punters before the reviewers hit home.If it's good; it will get good word of mouth, so staged release to let the wave of good word spread out and have people queueing around the block.

Staged release usually means it's good. International same day release means either it's really bad or it's going to be really copied. Usually, its bad or a sequel of something good

Borat is still hands down one of the funniest movies I've seen all year. A limited run? I know at least 300 people personally that will be lined up to see it on opening night. That's a ridiculous move by 20th Century Fox.

Oh, and Volver was great, and though I think Cruz was positively wonderful in it, I do feel that the kudos should definitely go to the ensemble cast. Those women clicked and worked together so well.

I'm still jealous that you get to see so many good movies before I do, Vasta ... The only major awards panel that rewards ensembles seems to be the Golden Globes, so maybe the women of Volver will get a nod there

The thing about a staged release of Borat, cork-host, is that the word of mouth is already spreading like wildfire before it is released at all .. they don't need the hype of such a release, so why not just give it to the masses all at once?

I grew up in Wichita, KS, and my brother currently lives in Park City where the BTK killer lived. About two weeks before he was arrested, the killer complimented my brother on his children when they were walking in the park...

A British company recently made a movie about BTK for The Discovery Channel and my brother had a role in it. He was an FBI agent. He told me the movie has aired in England, but not over here in America yet. If I hear more, I'll let you know.

I saw the Borat opening yesterday and I nearly fell out of my chair. This lead to watching cut clips and an hour spent cruizin' YouTube.

BTK - I'm acutally looking forward to this but for me, it's mostly because of Bana though Howard is a great force. It'll be interesting to see if Scott will decide to direct as well.

As for Cruz winning the prize and making a run for the Oscars...I think this would be fantastic but I'm starting to get confused as to the rules for being nominated and winning. Why would Volver hit the best picture category and not the best foreign film category? I'm going to have to do some reading.

If I'm not mistaken, Marina, "Volver" is indeed Spain's nominee for best foreign language film at the Oscars ... I don't know, however, if that precluded it from also being nominated for best picture, though I have to think that would be an extremely long shot anyway

I agree that Cruz could have a chance at the Oscar. I think an obstacle could be that both Mirren and Bening have been nominated before, and there could be buzz that it's time for one of them to win. Earlier this year there was a tribute dinner for Bening. So, that may be some indication of where Hollywood's head is right now? But the Academy does love an underdog. So, it could get interesting...

In my humble opinion, Bening was quite good in RwS, but the film as a whole was such a mess that it would be impossible to even consider her performance award-worthy. She didn't have the opportunity to shine in such a mis-directed movie.

I'm still thinking Helen Mirren still holds a strong lead in the running for the award, but maybe that's because I enjoyed The Queen so much.

I don't know her name or even if she can be considered as a nominee for Best Actress, but the Japanese teenage girl in Babel definitely had the best performance of the year for me, and she didn't even speak a word.

About Me

When I was very young, my father brought home a little movie called "Spinal Tap," and I have never been the same since. Along with being a movie junkie and a devoted fan of the hapless Baltimore Orioles, I have recently returned to the town I grew up in, Salisbury, MD., to work for The Daily Times newspaper.